Oyama Tengu

Oyama Tengu is the tengu chief said to inhabit Mount Oyama (1,252 m, Isehara, Kanagawa), the centre of Shugendo at Oyama Afuri-jinja and Oyama-dera. He leads a band of dai-tengu, ko-tengu, and karasu-tengu, and stands as guide of mountain ascetics and guardian of the mountain, while also retaining a yokai dimension. Pilgrims on the Oyama mode reported toppled trees, the night-time "tengu-daoshi" sound, and kamikakushi (mysterious disappearances) on mountain paths. In the Edo period, Oyama mode was a major popular pilgrimage and entered the rakugo "Oyama-mode-ri" tradition; the cult area spanned Sagami, Musashi, Kai, and Suruga. The Oyama Engi and Sagami no Kuni Oyama-dera Engi Emaki (Kamakura-Muromachi) record the cult; the late-Edo gazetteer Shinpen Sagami-no-kuni Fudoki-ko (1841) preserves traditions. Yanagita Kunio's Yama no Jinsei and Tono Monogatari and Chigiri Kosai's Tengu no Kenkyu (1975) treat the type. The Nichibunken Strange Phenomena and Yokai Folklore Database collects cases. Oyama is named alongside Kurama (Kyoto) and Takao (Tokyo) as one of the three great tengu mountains.